Ivan Marcano and Jose Holebas scored in the first half, and Kevin Mirallas in the second, to lead defending champion Olympiakos over 10-man Aris 3-0 in the Greek league on Sunday.
Aris goalkeeper Michalis Sifakis was ejected in the 45th minute for bringing down Djamel Abdoun inside the area.
The win, combined with Panathinaikos’ 2-0 loss at AEK, allowed Olympiakos to extend its lead to four points with six rounds to go. Panathinaikos hosts Olympiakos next Sunday.
Second-half goals by Leonardo and Victor Klonaridis sealed AEK’s victory.
Also Sunday, Kerkyra beat Xanthi, Giannena defeated Levadiakos and Panaitolikos beat Ergotelis, all with the same 2-0 score.
Olympiakos dominated the first half, with 18 attempts at goal to just one for Aris.
Less than 30 seconds into the game, Diogo dribbled past a defender but his shot was blocked by Sifakis.
The hosts went ahead in the 18th when Ibagaza crossed from the left and Marcano headed in. Three minutes later, Diogo’s through ball put Mirallas alone with Sifakis but the shot went high over the bar. In the 24th, Abdoun squared the ball for Mirallas, but the Belgium forward hit the right post.
In the 45th, Abdoun stole the ball from defender Nikos Lazaridis, tried to dribble past Sifakis and was brought down by the goalkeeper, who was sent off. Holebas scored from the penalty spot.
In the 51st, Abdoun again took the ball off Lazaridis but substitute goalkeeper Markos Vellidis saved with his feet.
Aris had its first significant chance in the 61st, when Khalifa Sankare rose to head just wide off a free kick by Neto.
Three minutes later, Neto kept Mirallas from scoring with a timely sliding tackle.
Mirallas did not fail five minutes later, getting to a deep ball by Jean Makoun to score his 14th goal of the season.
